


Droids and Happiness

by egosoffire



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Fluff, Hope, M/M, cuteness, stubborn droids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 10:27:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14470668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/egosoffire/pseuds/egosoffire
Summary: (Written for a prompt I received on tumblr.)Poe is happy. Ben is redeemed and working with the Resistance. So is BB-9E. The problem is that the droid does not get along with his counterpart, BB-8.





	Droids and Happiness

A low mechanical beep sounded and Poe closed his eyes. “Not again,” he said, leaning back against his pillow. “Please tell me those two idiot droids aren’t fighting  _ again. _ ”

“I wish I could tell you that, but you’d just call me a liar.”

Poe opened his eyes to find that Ben was standing in his doorway. He was half dressed, shirtless and his hair was wet from a shower. He was turned in a way that reflected his pale face in the light of Poe’s quarters.

“What is it this time?” Poe asked. Before BB-8 and BB-9E, he had never known that droids were really capable of bickering, but those two were always at each other’s throats -- metaphorically, of course, since neither had a throat.

“I don’t know,” Ben groaned. “From what I get, 9E made a comment about your droid’s functions or something equally ridiculous…”

Poe got up out of bed and walked into the hallway. He was greeted by the sound of loud, shrill chirping.

“Guys,” Poe groaned. “What’s this all about?”

He was as well versed in binary as anyone else but he couldn’t help miss some things as the shrill sounds mixed together. He heard ‘useless’ and ‘parts’ and various droid insults being flung back and forth.

Then, the bolt of electricity shot out of his droid, hitting the other and sending BB-9E reeling backwards.

“Hey!” Poe yelled, grabbing BB-8 and rolling his droid back towards him. “Stop that!”

The droid was all but sputtering and static electricity burned Poe’s hand. He smacked at BB-8 defensively.

“Do not shock me,” Poe warned, feeling like he was scolding an unruly toddler, rather than a droid. “What happened? Can you explain calmly?”

The droid whirred.

“And appropriately, please.”

Eventually, Poe was able to get a somewhat consistent story. BB-8 and BB-9E had been taking care of Jessika’s ship, as Poe had sent both droids to help his friend and colleague with a repair. The extremely helpful droids had both rushed to her repairs, and then argued when she asked for opinions.

Apparently, according to BB-8, BB-9E was an idiot who could not violate protocol, even when it was a clearly better option. 

“Well, 9E’s used to more sterile, optimal environments,” Poe argued, on behalf of Ben’s droid.

“He says your droid pushed him down a flight of stairs,” Ben commented, giving Poe a look. “Can you please do something about this?”

“How am I supposed to do something?” Poe groaned. “You two, listen to me for a second.”

The two droids both turned towards him.

“I know that things are frustrating right now,” Poe said pointedly. “We all just fought in a war and we’re still recovering as a galaxy, not even speaking of how we’re recovering as a resistance movement.”

BB-9E groaned in a way that only a droid could.

“Just listen for a second,” Poe told them both. “This situation is not easy for anyone.  We are all struggling. We have to make the best of this though. You two know that Ben and I care about each other, don’t you?”

Affirmative beeps from both. That was, at least, a little bit comforting. Poe rolled his eyes and rubbed a hand through his hair. 

“We care about each other in spite of everything we’ve been through,” he tried to explain. “We were friends, more than friends and enemies. Now we’re trying to be friends again…” Or more than friends, if the Force was truly willing.

A whir of response came from BB-8.

“Yes, he was evil, I agree,” Poe said, rolling his eyes and looking over at Ben. Leave it to a droid to simplify things completely. “You’ve done some pretty evil stuff yourself, Beeb.”

“Can you two just please agree to get along?” Ben sighed, clearly exasperated. “I’m sure that you’d find something in common.”

BB-9E objected.

“What about the work?” Ben asked, a weary suggestion. Poe could hear the frustration in his voice. “You’re both excellent at what you do. **”**

Poe couldn’t help notice the conversation was steering in a direction that did not only refer to their droids. He smiled thoughtfully. “Yeah,” he said, “and you both are dedicated to doing the best job you can, in spite of a past that might not be so pretty…”

“You want to better yourself,” Ben said to BB-9E. “You remember how people treated you with the First Order, right?”

The droid agreed.

“They used you,” Ben said, and once again Poe got the distinct feeling that they were not talking about the tiny astromech droid. “They used you for what you could do, and didn’t care when it pushed you to the limit. Think about how Jessika treated you today…”

A low whistle and then a quiet reply. BB-9E admitted to Ben that Jess was very nice to him. 

“What about the techs down below?” 

Another whirl of affirmation from the little droid.

Ben looked at Poe for a moment, not even looking at his droid as he addressed him. “You are safe here, and respected and I know it’s a lot to adjust to...but I think you can be happy here.”

Poe smiled warmly. He reached over and took Ben’s hand. He found that it was icy cold against his own. 

“We will be happy,” he promised.


End file.
